In Memoriam
by sleeepyqueen
Summary: Former winner of the Holy Grail war and Caster class servant Alita lives a normal human life in Fuyuki City. 7 Months before a new Holy Grail War begins she is given the title of Master and forced to reconnect with a figure from her past. [Zero!Lancer (Diarmuid) x OC ]
1. The War

A battered, blood covered body drug herself across the burning battlefield that once was a part of Fuyuki city. Smoke filled her lungs and she coughed and wheezed while struggling to move herself to her destination. Her left arm dragged lifelessly across the ground as she forced her body forward with her right.

The final blast of her attack against the opposing Rider servant had seemingly ended the Grail War, disintegrating both servant and master while leaving a fiery wasteland in its wake.

"Master!" she cried out weakly, "Master, where are you? We've finally won..." She could feel his presence, but very faintly. His mana was almost completely depleted and she could no longer benefit from its healing effects. She could feel the blood seeping from the wound in her side, mixing with the dirt and rocks that rubbed against her body as she continued to crawl and search for her master. The sound of moving rubble and a large gasp caught her ears as a man emerged from under a huge pile of rubble, gasping for air and coughing violently.

"Master, are you alright?" she called to him as he lifted himself up and began to move towards her.

"I could be worse, how are you faring? Alita?" he asked, eyeing her beaten form. He knelt down in front of her and brushed her blood soaked hair out of her face then hooked his arm around under her unbroken right arm and lifted her up. Alita winced, her scratched up and tired legs fought her but she was able to stand leaning against him.

"I wish I could say the same as well... I can't feel my left arm, and I cannot heal myself lest I use up the last of your mana," she answered.

"I see, I'm sorry about that. Surely our victory was worth it, however," he joked and she felt herself relax a bit against him.

"Yes it certain-" her words were cut off as she felt liquid pass over her bare feet, slightly burning her skin. Both she and her Master looked down at the crimson liquid and up towards the source: The Holy Grail. The large black hole in the sky released small spurts of crimson liquid upon the field where they stood and slowly began to lower itself, lessening the amount of liquid it released until it ran dry. She felt herself being pulled towards the hole, debris flying past her and being sucked into the small abyss. In her weakened state she felt herself being dragged towards it, but her master held a firm grip on her shoulders so she would not be pulled in.

With a small " ** _pop_** " the hole collapsed onto itself, turning the crimson liquid around the pair into red shimmer that began to float upwards into the sky. Gently she released herself from her Master's grip and walked closer to the place the hole had once been. In its place stood a blinding golden chalice, ornate with engravings so intricate and beautiful she could barely stare at it without feeling her vision burn.

"We...really won..." the man behind her whispered and fell to his knees. Alita turned quickly to make sure he was all right only to see him kneeling on ground, tears falling from his eyes.

"Master...are you alright?"

"Thank you, Alita ..." he whispered softly, "For helping me achieve this goal..."

She smiled at him. She knew what was to come next. Her Master had kept his last command seal until the end. He would soon ask her to end her life in order to have his wish granted by the Grail.

"I have never achieved anything in my life, until today...and now I will have no one to share this achievement with..." He whispered staring down at the petal shaped mark on his hand.

"Master, feel no pity. I am honored to have served you this far. I am proud to have had such a kind and honorable Master. You are truly deserving of Grail. May it grant your deepest desire." the servant said, placing her hand over her heart and performing as reverent a bow as she could in her current state.

"Please, use your command seal and acquire your wish, my Master." She closed her eyes and stayed in slight bow, a small smile on her face. Never had she believed she and her Master would have won the war, yet there they were. She couldn't think of anyone more deserving than he to have his greatest wishes fulfilled.

"By the power of my command seal, Alita , I order you to kill me."

"Yes, master." The words left her mouth involuntarily. Her eyes snapped open as soon as her words reached her ears and she stared at him in disbelief.

"W-wait..Master, what? What are you doing?" She asked as her usable hand reached out and summoned a red arrow.

"WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME TO DO THIS!?" she screamed, her broken left arm lifted and an opalescent wooden bow materialized in her hand. Even with a broken limb, the power of the command seal forced her to lift the bow and arrow and point it directly at her Master's head. He simply looked at her with sad eyes.

"You have made my life worth living...but there is no point in living in this world if I cannot share it with someone..."

"Master, please... simply wish for your wife to be returned to you. You both can be happy! Please don't make me do this!" Tears rolled down her face as she strained to stop her hand from pulling the arrow back. Small rose petals swirled around the arrow and her Master closed his eyes.

"Please, Alita . Take the Grail's wish as your own. My life has been given purpose through this war, but I will never be able to return to a normal way of life after. I hope you understand. I wish to be at peace with my wife. Besides, you deserved a good life too. Make it happen."

Her hand released the arrow and as it collided with her master's head both the arrow and body exploded into rose petals. Her weapon disappeared in a mist of red particles as she fell to her knees, tears streaming hard down her face.

"Master, why... WHY?" she let out a heart wrenching cry and fisted the petals that lay in masses around her. They had both fought so hard and overcome many challenges. Alita had never questioned her Master's reason for fighting in the war, nor had he ever given a direct answer when she asked about his wish. She had never imagined that he didn't have one, not with how determined he was to win.

A stern voice came from behind her, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Tell me, what is your wish?"

"My wish...?" she stared lifelessly down at the petals in her hands. She lifted them to her face and her expression changed from pain and hopelessness to absolute anger. Crushing the flowers in her palm she turned angrily towards the grail and spat: "I no longer wish to be a servant in this ridiculous war."


	2. The Visit

_**Beep, beep, beep.**_ Alita groaned as her phone alarm went off. She tried to ignore the noise and buried her head under her comforter. _**BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.**_ The alarm seemed to grow louder with every second that passed. Hopefully auto shut off would kick in soon and she could get a couple more minutes of sleep before getting up to ready herself for work. Thankfully her phone shut up within a few minutes but by that time she was wide awake. She slid the comforter off her head and reached out to pick up the phone on her nightstand. She had three unread messages.

 _Hey boss! Would it be cool if took Saturday off? There's a festival downtown I really want to take my boyfriend to. He's only staying for the weekend before he goes back to college. I'll even swap shifts with someone. Let me know a.s.a.p, thanks!_ _\- Kara, received 1:45 am_

Alita smiled. Kara was one of her best workers so of course she would let her take the day off. _Of course! Don't worry about the shift, I've got it covered. Have a fun time!_ She hit send and opened the next message. It was a delivery confirmation for a package she had received the day before. She deleted the message quickly and continued to the third one.

 _I'll be coming by to visit the cafe sometime today, don't be surprised. - Unknown, received 30 minutes ago._

Alita raised her brow at the message. She hadn't scheduled any meetings or interviews for the day. She also had no plans to see anyone, let alone someone who's number she didn't even have saved in her phone. She stared at the text for a few minutes before starting to panic.

"Oh, crap! What if it's a surprise visit from corporate!?" she screamed, jumping out of bed and running to the bathroom to take a shower. She hadn't been expecting any corporate visits for a while, seeing as she had been visited by a few higher ups the previous month. She was currently a district manager working the position of general manager at a popular maid cafe in Fuyuki City. How she ended up in that place? Thank the Holy Grail. The damn cup had a horrid sense of humor when it came to the job it chose for her as a part of her wish. Luckily the pay was amazing and she didn't have to wear any sort of maid outfit herself, so she couldn't complain.

After a quick shower she dried her long light brown hair and threw on her work outfit for the day: a white blouse with a hunter green vest tucked into a pair of black skinny pants and black heels. Even if she didn't have to dress as a maid she had to at least look somewhat like she worked at the cafe. She walked into the kitchen and turned on the T.V for some background noise while she made breakfast. _If someone from corporate really was going to visit today I feel like they wouldn't come at opening time,_ she thought as she cracked an egg into a bowl. _That's the least busy time since people are at work...unless they want to see our opening procedures and how we use our idle time? What time should I expect them?_ She dropped the egg into a pan on the stove and set it on a medium heat to cook. She pulled out her phone again and reread the message. It seemed so informal. Someone from the company would have called to let her know, and not text her right before the cafe opened. She glanced at the clock. 7:30 am. She had almost an hour to eat before heading out to work. While the cafe didn't open until 10 am, a manager had to head in early to assess the manager who closed the night before. Uniforms had to be checked, as employees weren't allowed to take them from the cafe, and inventory had to be taken so that the weeks supply orders could be filed and sent out on Friday. She set her plate of eggs down on the table and poured herself a glass of iced chocolate coffee from the fridge, grabbing a jar of strawberry jelly as well. A small "ding!" sound let her know her toast was done and she settled down to have her breakfast.

* * *

A small bell rung as Alita pushed open the doors to the cafe and flipped on the lights. The light scent of vanilla floor cleaner still lingered from the night before and all the chairs were placed upside down on top of the tables. Not a single thing seemed out of place. She dropped her purse into the manager's office and patrolled the kitchen, changing rooms, break room, and ended up back on the main floor.

"Leave it to Kaito to always do a great closing job!" she said to herself as she headed back to the office, proud of her assistant manager. She noted down what needed to be ordered for the kitchen and made a note to schedule a dry cleaning appointment for the uniforms. Half an hour went by and she heard the back door open.

"Helloooo? Anybody home?" came a boy's voice from the hall. Alita stuck her head out of the office and stared at the brown haired boy who was turned and locking the door.

"Oh, I didn't know you were opening today, Haru."

"Oh, yeah. Kaito let me take a shift today. Rui was supposed to open but she's got some tests to study for since she's taking some online classes. She needed all the sleep she could get." He replied as he walked past the office and headed into the changing rooms. Another opening and closing of the back door let her know her chef had arrived for the day.

"Yo, Lita."

"Good morning, Jerry. How was closing last night?" she asked exiting the office and following the tall man to the kitchen.

"Same as always." he replied, pushing up his glasses. "I hope you don' t mind but I must get to work baking the cakes I prepared last night. Mind getting the batters for me out of the fridge while I go change? Just leave them on the counter right there."

Alita didn't even get a chance to say yes or no as he walked out of the room before she could answer.

"Typical Jirou..." she muttered, pulling the batter tubs out of the fridge and placing them on the counter. She took note of the pink tub and had to take a second glance. Jirou's infamous Strawberry Maid cake was a popular dessert at the cafe, but it sold out almost daily before 2 o' clock. He had given up making it for almost a month now, leaving some customers unhappy. She stared at the tub. _C-could he have made that because of the visit today? Did everyone know but me?_ The dread of the corporate visit that she had temporarily forgotten came rushing back to her. She pulled out her phone, checked the clock, and booked it back to the office to make sure all her paperwork was done.

* * *

Opening had gone smoothly and Alita had still not received a surprise visit from anyone. It was at 11:20 when a knock at the office door took her attention away from the documents she was faxing.

"Hey, Alita. There's a guy here to see you. He totally looks like a priest. He said he told you he'd be here today?" Haru asked, sticking his head into the office.

"A priest...? What?"

"Yeah, he's wearing that white collar thing and he's even got a cross on."

"Uh, tell him I'll be right there. Get him something to drink or a dessert or something while I finish these papers" she said, thumbing through the last few pages she had to send. Haru went off and she immediately thought of the surprise visit. _Is corporate hiring priests now? Have they dubbed this line of cafe too sinful and unholy that it needs to be blessed or something?_

As soon as her last paper sent she got up and left, locking the door behind her. Walking onto the main floor she noticed a few customers, especially a group of young women fawning over Haru at a table in the corner of the cafe. There was a cute elderly couple and a pair of businessmen but otherwise the cafe was empty. In forty minutes or so a new waitress would come and help Haru out in case there was a lunch rush. Alita spotted a man dressed in dark blue wearing a cross sitting at a table with a newspaper and coffee. She straightened out her vest and approached him.

"Hi, I'm Alita, the manager of this cafe. Are you the one who was supposed to come visit?" she asked, taking a seat across from him. The man put the newspaper down and took a sip of his coffee. He looked up and smiled.

"My name is Reginald Dunn. I come here by order of the Holy Church. It's nice to meet you, Miss Alita. Or shall I say, Caster."


End file.
